LAUSR

This paper presents results on the development and investigation of new miniature robots with increased number of degrees of freedom, based on the application of piezoelectric kinematic pairs with multi-DOF. The schematics of technologically advanced multi-DOF active kinematic pairs are presented and the details of their control are explained. The structure control of multi-DOF active kinematic pairs is based on sectioning of electrodes of the piezoelectric actuators and allows selecting desirable types of oscillations and speeds of links. Three modifications of piezoelectric robots with 6 and 15 DOFs are provided, together with their resolutions and responses to step inputs. Modal and harmonic analyses were performed and displacements of contact points were obtained. Trajectory planning algorithms are developed based on the numerical results.